NOT SO FAST: Coffman Critics Try (and Fail) to Dirty His Immigration Record

Congressman Mike Coffman has long been a champion of compassionate immigration reform. That works for this district, which has a decent sized immigrant population.

Yesterday, Washington Post journalist Dave Weigel thought he had the campaign hit piece scoop of the year – Coffman was caught on tape contradicting himself on immigration policy. Coffman said that Trump’s DACA plan might have been more generous that what Coffman would have offered and he said that the United States should transition to a zero tolerance policy on illegal immigration.

Jason Crow, aided by the Washington Post, seized this opportunity to call into question Coffman’s commitment to immigrant families. Here’s what Weigel wrote:

“Democrats, however, intended to highlight Coffman’s answer — and brand him as a hypocrite who might sign onto immigration reform bills but cannot be trusted to push them forward.”

Well, thank God for the Denver Post (did we really just write that?), which gave the entire audio a listen to put his comments in context. Here is what Anna Staver wrote:

“Coffman, he said, wasn’t proposing switching to a zero tolerance policy immediately. He believes it’s the final step in a long process of immigration reform and pointed to a January 2017 opinion piece Coffman wrote for The Denver Post where he proposed making it a criminal offense to cross the border illegally but only after ‘a brief window where those illegally in the country can come out of the shadows.'”

This is the same position he’s always had, emphasis on “transition.” This also is the position of many Democrats as well. This is a non-story. Better luck next time, Dave.